The New Optimism The New Optimism By H. de Vere Stacpoole [Illustration] London: John Lane, The Bodley Head. New York: John Lane Company Toronto: Bell & Cockburn MCMXIV COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY JOHN LANE COMPANY PUBLISHERS PRINTING COMPANY, NEW YORK, U. S. A. The New Optimism The New Optimism PART I ON THE BEACH [Sidenote: The Beach We Came From] I was standing by the sea-wall, watching the green water foaming round the stakes of the breakwater, when my companion, a charming and elegant woman, turned to me: “What is there in water that fascinates one?” she asked. “Do you feel the fascination?” “Yes.” “Do you not know why you feel it?” “No.” “Shall I tell you?” “Yes.” “Because you were once a swimming reptile.” “Thank you.” “Oh, there is nothing to thank me for, though the fact is the most glorious in the universe.” “The fact that I was once a reptile?” “Precisely.” She pondered on this for a moment, and then: “I don’t see where the glory comes in,” said she. “Nevertheless, it is there, for the fact is the master key to the meaning of the universe, the one light that shines in a world of darkness, and the one sure hope in a world of doubt.” “The fact that I was once a reptile?” “And I—yes. I would not give what the webbing between my fingers tells me for all the promises of all the religions of all the countries on earth.” “Ancestral pride is evidently not your strong point.” “I don’t know about that; but up to a year ago mental darkness was my portion. I had no religion.” “And have you any now?” “No, but I have a certainty.” “Of what?” “Of the fact that the world has a meaning and life an aim. Shall we sit down on this seat and talk for a while, if I am not boring you?—and may I light a cigarette?” “You are not boring me—yet. And if you can prove what you say, I shall not mind even if you bore me. But I must tell you, first of all, that, to me, the world seems absolutely without a meaning and life without an aim. I mean, of course, the general life of the world, which implies, as far as I can see, general suffering. If suffering did people good, then I could understand that we were placed here to grow and develop; but suffering and poverty, as far as I can see, only stunt and twist and spoil everything they touch.” “Precisely.” “Then, if you admit that, you must admit that the meaning and aim of the world is far from being glorious.” “Never. That is what I wish to disprove.” “Then disprove it.” [Sidenote: The Growth of the World] “Tell me,” I said. “Why is it that an ordinary human being placed before a flower sees only a flower and nothing of the wonder that is in it?” “Because flowers are so common.”